:: AMERICA STANDS WITH ISRAEL NEWS CLIPS 4-5-10 ::

U.S. News Affecting Foreign Policy

1. House Expresses Overwhelming Bipartisan Support for Israel
Over three-quarteres of the House of Representatives have signed a bipartisan letter to the Obama administration underscoring the importance of the U.S.-Israel relationship. Spearheaded by House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and House Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) and addressed to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the letter lays out the bedrock support that exists in Congress for the U.S.-Israel relationship.
http://www.aipac.org/Publications/SourceMaterialsCongressionalAction/HoyerCantorLetter.pdf

2. Obama Expects U.N. Sanctions on Iran to be Approved Soon (The New York Times)
President Obama predicted Tuesday that he would be able to persuade the United Nations to "move forcefully" against Iran with new sanctions within weeks, not months, as he turned up the pressure on Tehran to back off its nuclear program.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/31/world/middleeast/31prexy.html

3. U.S. says weapons from Iran sent to Afghanistan (Reuters)
Iran is having a growing, negative influence in its neighbor Afghanistan, U.S. Chairman of the Join Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen said on Wednesday, citing what he said was a shipment of Iranian arms to fighters.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62U33L20100331

4. CIA: Iran capable of producing nukes (The Washington Times)
Iran is poised to begin producing nuclear weapons after its uranium program expansion in 2009, even though it has had problems with thousands of its centrifuges, according to a newly released CIA report. "Iran continues to develop a range of capabilities that could be applied to producing nuclear weapons, if a decision is made to do so," the annual report to Congress states.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/mar/30/cia-iran-has-capability-to-produce-nuke-weapons/

5. Clinton: China to play role in Iran sanctions push (The Associated Press)
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday that China agrees Iran must not become a nuclear weapons power and that the fellow Security Council member will play a role in forging sanctions against the Islamic republic at the United Nations.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/canada/articles/2010/03/29/clinton_china_to_play_role_in_iran_sanctions_push/?rss_id=Boston.com+--+Latest+news

Middle East News

1. Israel says it's planning new gestures (The Jerusalem Post)
Israel has formulated a new list of potential gestures towards the Palestinians, Defense Ministry sources said Thursday, as a top Palestinian Authority minister visited Washington for talks with Obama administration officials.
http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=172301

2. Ahmadinejad rejects Obama's "beautiful words" to Iran (Reuters)
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad rejected a renewed call from the United States to engage diplomatically to overcome the nuclear standoff, saying he saw no change in Washington's hostile policy.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6320IY20100403

3. 23 prisoners escape in restive Iraqi city of Mosul (Reuters)
Twenty-three prisoners convicted of terrorism charges escaped from a prison in Iraq's turbulent city of Mosul on Friday, police said. The inmates fled through a hole they made in a wall at Ghazlani prison in the southern area of the city, which is an al Qaeda stronghold north of Baghdad.
http://in.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idINLDE6310HV20100402?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0

:: POLITICAL UPDATE ::

SENATE

AZ: Sen. John McCain - Elected in 1986
Arizona Sen. John McCain has a 15 percentage point lead over former Rep. J.D. Hayworth in this year's Republican Senate primary, according to a Daily Kos/Research 2000 poll released Friday.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0410/35333.html

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

AL-03: Rep. Mike Rogers - Elected in 2000
Democratic attorney Josh Segall dropped his challenge to Alabama Rep. Mike Rogers on Friday, joining a growing list of...